Former cricketer and BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about the measure his government has taken to tackle the problem of pollution in the national capital.
Gambhir took to Twitter and posted a video while captioning it as: "Instead of patting each others' backs and gearing up for elections by playing with the lives of citizens, I challenge CM @ArvindKejriwal to tell Delhiites what his Govt has done to fight pollution for the past 4.5 years?"
In the video, Gambhir said that ministers were taking credit of the people's awareness, which helped them to record the lowest pollution levels post-Diwali.
"The problem of pollution in Delhi affects me and my family as much as it affects you all. The good thing is that this year, the pollution levels during this Diwali were recorded the lowest as compared to the last six years," Gambhir said.
"But some ministers are taking the credit of the people's awareness. But I want to tell you that we have not won this fight yet. Delhi is still like a gas chamber and efforts are being made to control stubble burning," he added.
Challenging Kejriwal, Gambhir asked him what he has done in the last four and a half years to curb the pollution problem in Delhi.
"During the election campaign, I had challenged Kejriwal to prove his allegation against me. Now I am challenging him once again. I want to challenge that what he has done towards controlling pollution in the last four and a half years apart from spending money on advertisings," he said.
"The crores of money which were spent on advertising, if they were spent on controlling pollution then Delhi would have been able to breathe properly. I am sure our CM will take my challenge," Gambhir added.
Environmentalist Ravina Raj Kohli also raised his concerns over the escalating pollution levels in Delhi, saying that it is morally and ethically incorrect to conduct a cricket match in the national capital.
India is scheduled to play a T20I match at Arun Jaitley Stadium here against Bangladesh on November 3.
"We have been pleading with all the sponsors and all organising sports authorities including the BCCI for a while to take air quality into consideration before scheduling any professional or amateur sporting events. Whether it is the government's Run for Unity or it is the T20 match or an IPL match or a school sports day or a huge marathon that involves thousands of people," Kohli told ANI.
"For the people to be giving permission for such a big sporting event, with our cricketers and the spectators who are going to be sitting out there including children and vulnerable adults, it is just morally and ethically incorrect," added she.
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